Imaginary Friends

The other morning, LPP informed me that his "friends" (imaginary) were joining him for breakfast. "1,2,3,4,5 friends" to be exact. I asked if they were with us at that very moment and he confirmed, "Yes. They are here." I invited them to breakfast and he said, "C'mon" and pretended to lead them by miming holding their hands. So cute. I asked him their names and he made up a cornucopia of mostly Egyptian sounding names that I can't remember, but two were a little easier to remember: one was Tomas (pronounced TOE-muss) and the other was Mali (pronounced Muh-LEE). For some reason, Mali was always in LPP's room, never downstairs eating with us, no matter how many times we called for him to come down. I was so excited to see LPP creating this imaginary world, probably more than he was, which says a lot about my crazy, escapist self, but mostly because imaginary friends were such a big part of my childhood (and early 20s, but that's for another blog...KIDDING). My first imaginary friend was named Orreck (I only know this spelling from a letter I wrote my Dad when I was about 5). My Mom would lovingly say to me, "You look like a wreck!" which I thought meant I looked like someone named "Orreck", and hence my first imaginary friend was born. Next were Lisa and April, they were sisters. I was so shocked and disappointed when I met an actual person named Lisa, because I thought I created the name. Later, we were joined by May, who was Lisa and April's cousin (I was working the month theme) and then Frieda (because I wanted to be called Frieda). I am sure there was probably a girl named Fanny because I wanted to be called Fanny too. Imaginary friends really came in handy for me - my Dad tells a story of how I was refusing to eat my spinach, despite his attempts to convince me, until finally I pretended to be my imaginary friend who liked spinach so that I could eat it. I think that still freaks my Dad out. Interestingly, LPP hasn't mentioned his "friends" since that initial day. I wonder if they'll be back...